I would like our community to know, if you already didn’t know, what a great group of teens we have in our little city.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, several youth groups from our local and rural churches banded together to collect food for our local Food Pantry. This was called ‘SuperHero’ and was their way of celebrating trick-or-treat. A great amount of food was collected and the Food Pantry wants them to know how much it was appreciated.

Today I scrubbed my kitchen floor, on my knees with a bucket of sudsy water and a brush, “Cinderella-style.”

After that, I polished all the stainless steel and rubbed the countertops with stuff that made them gleam. Then I vacuumed all the wayward popcorn from underneath the couch cushions and cleaned both bathrooms.

When I finally sat down with my can of diet ginger ale, it hit me how good it felt to work with my whole body.

The scrubbing motion stretched my tight back and polishing the stainless steel until I could see my reflection made me smile.

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults in the U.S. Here in Kentucky, statistics from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet show that drivers between the ages of 15 and 20 were involved in more than 26,000 collisions in 2008, resulting in 141 fatalities. Seventy-percent of those killed were teenagers. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, 16-year-old drivers are more than twice as likely to be involved in fatal crashes as older drivers.

Halloween is always a festive time of the year, especially when there are children around. The magic of the season lends itself to making memories for the young and the young at heart.

Halloween’s arrival is usually greeted with cool, crisp evenings and an array of colorful leaves – and this year should be no exception. For weeks, many of us are consumed with carving pumpkins; decorating with fodder shocks and fall’s vegetables; attending costume parties, and, of course, trick or treating.

I’m writing in regards to what I consider to be an every day worsening problem - reckless, speeding and inattentive drivers on US 62 between Georgetown and Cynthiana. I set cruise control on my vehicle between 50 and 55 mph most all the time because I recognize with the smoother ride of most of today’s vehicles, it is so easy to accelerate beyond the limit. I am passed around curves, crests of hills, in the emergency lanes, as well as in straight stretches... as if I’m sitting still.

The fear associated with H1N1, commonly known as the swine flu, lessened in late spring when schools closed for summer vacation. However, the concerns returned in full force when schools recently returned to session. Last week, health officials declared flu in Kentucky “widespread,” the highest level.

H1N1 is classified as a pandemic flu, rather than a seasonal flu, because it is caused by a new flu virus that people have not been exposed to before. The virus spreads quickly from person-to-person.

One of the things I miss most about living in California is the Pacific Ocean.

This past weekend I was at Cocoa Beach and although I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching the waves, when it comes to ocean waves, compared to the Pacific, the Atlantic wimps out.

I grew up at the beach. Almost every Sunday afternoon my mom, dad, sister, brothers and I would head to Zuma Beach, near Malibu. Once there, I would race from the parking lot into the surf with the goal of “swimming past the waves.”

We are at the time of year when time will be changing again before long. Daylight seems to be coming later, which means operators of vehicles need to use their lights when going to work and to school in the mornings. Vehicles with their headlights on are more visible than vehicles operating without headlights.

The last time I was in an airport I picked up the book, “How to Talk to Anyone.” It promised 92 little “tricks” for big success in relationships.

Because my job involves talking to people, or more importantly getting them to talk to me, I bought the book.

The author, Leil Lowndes, also wrote “How to Make Anyone Fall in Love with You.” I think the author may have used some crossover material from her other book in this one because trick No. 3 is “How to use your eyes to make someone fall in love with you.”

OK, newspaper folks. It’s time to pick ourselves off the ground and fight back. There is plenty of time left on the clock, and our fans — more than 100 million loyal readers — are pulling for us to win. So here’s how we rally.

First and foremost, we have to ignore those self-proclaimed pundits and cynics who believe that newspapers are dead. They are dead wrong.

Before the worship service started we had eaten dinner together, me with my tape recorder and notebook by my side.

I don’t normally go to church on Wednesday nights, but I had come to New Beginnings Fellowship in Hernando, Fla., for a Religion page feature story and to take notes about their worship.

As the people entered the sanctuary, some grabbed musical instruments from a cardboard box in the back of the room — maracas and wooden sticks, cymbals and tambourines. During the first song, people used the instruments, making their own music.